Biab: Is This Plan Crazy?

[Mad Alchemist]

So, I've been formulating a BIAB plan. My plan goes something like this:

Get a big polyester or nylon bag with a drawstring (like a laundry or sports bag).

Get one or two somewhat fine (and large) mesh bags from a homebrew shop--enough to hold 15+ lbs of grain.

Brew with the smaller bag(s) in the larger bag, and use the larger bag to shoulder all the weight from the water-saturated grain when it's dripping.

I don't plan on going with a finer crush than I normally would for a few reasons. Mainly, I don't like husks being ground-up because they can give a beer undesirable flavors. The coarser grind will also steal less of my precious wort when dripping out. I'm also willing to mash for an extra 30 minutes if I need to.

Does anyone see anything wrong with this approach? If not, I'll probably start by trying this method rather than looking all around town for someone skilled enough to make me a bag out of curtains (I also can only find cotton Swiss Voile in the states). If I make a $15 batch of beer with $15 of new supplies and it doesn't turn out, I'll chalk it up to another experimentation failure.

Thanks!

 

[mxd]

not too sure where you are, but our sponsors sell large hop sacks that people have used for the b in BIAb.

 

[Mearesy]

Pretty sure hes in the states. Cool site by the way mad alchemist! :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Mearesy]

Oh and welcome to the forum

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

... (I also can only find cotton Swiss Voile in the states)...

What's wrong with the place linked to in the Brewing Network discussion thread (p23)?

 

[Thirsty Boy]

go to a fabric store - ask for pure polyester curtain sheer - they will lead you to the correct product. I have yet to go to a fabric store that doesn't have an appropriate material, its just a matter of you knowing what to look for.

A search on e-bay almost always provides a few sources

and you can probably find a wine / paint / honey strainer bag in the states big enough and ready made for your purposes. You need a fine one, some of the wine bags are 1/16th inch and thats too course. Think curtain sheer or nylon stockings.

For reasons explained lots of times in various BIAB threads, smaller bags that constrain the mash are not the best option, they can be made to work, but they aren't the best solution. Surprisingly enough, the actual best solution is to use the one big bag that everyone recommends.

Your reasonings for not going with a finer crush are not particularly accurate - the finer crush does not lead to undesirable flavours and BIAB will change your grain absoprption rate from about 1L per kg of grain to close to 0.6L per kg of grain, your crush will make virtually no difference to that figure.

Find some polyester sheer - find someone who can sew - make a bag. Or buy one ready made off Gryphon Homebrew. Or you can just use the material as a big sheet and gather it up into a bag... its a bit of a pain in the bum, but it works and requires no sewing.

 

[Mad Alchemist]

Thank you to both. As for the link on page 23 at The Brewing Network, I must have overlooked it somehow or forgotten about it during my research. I'll see if I can look at honey/apple/wine/paint strainers for a ready-made solution, but it seems like I need to just buck up and buy some of the Swiss Voile and find a way to make it a bag.

Thanks again.